Notre Dame coach Brian Kelly won't name a starting QB for Saturday's game at Wake Forest

Notre Dame plans to play Brandon Wimbush and Ian Book at quarterback Saturday at Wake Forest, and coach Brian Kelly wouldn’t say who would start when asked after practice Thursday.

“They’re both going to play,” Kelly told reporters in South Bend, Ind. “I’ve said that all year. We need them both to win. And they’re both ready.”

Wimbush started the first three games and completed 42 of 76 passes (55.3 percent) for 589 yards, one touchdown and four interceptions. He also rushed for 136 yards and one touchdown.

Asked specifically if Wimbush would get the starting nod again Saturday, Kelly said: “They’re both going to play. They’re both prepared. They’re both ready to go. We’re going to need both of them to win.”

Book has appeared in all three games, mostly in red-zone packages. He is 3 of 3 for 13 yards and one touchdown, a 2-yarder to tight end Nic Weishar in the fourth quarter last week against Vanderbilt.

“We think he's a good quarterback,” Kelly said. “We recruited him to Notre Dame to win championships, just as we did with Brandon. That’s why we put him in the game against Vanderbilt — to win. That’s why we put him in each and every week. If we put him in this weekend, it’ll be because we believe he can help us win.”

Wimbush started all but one game last season, missing the North Carolina game because of a foot injury. Book replaced Wimbush during the second quarter of the Citrus Bowl against LSU and helped rally Notre Dame to victory.

Wimbush worked mostly with the first unit throughout spring practice and was named the starter before fall camp.

The eighth-ranked Irish are looking for offensive consistency. They’re tied for 103rd nationally in scoring (23.3 points per game) and 99th in total offense (365.3 yards per game). Wake Forest allowed 304 passing yards and five touchdowns in a loss last week to Boston College.

“Each and every week, what we’ve tried to do is know that we have assets on our team,” Kelly said. “We’re going to apply those assets to where we think makes sense for us to win. Each and every week, when we started this back in August, it was to prepare our guys for when we thought it was in our best interest.

“We’ve got good players. We’re coaching them. We’ve got good receivers that will appear at different times, we’ve got tight ends and we’ve got quarterbacks. They’re both prepared to help us.”